


Single Riders

by after_midnightmunchies



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Modern AU, for the voltron positivity exchange, i can't write short one shots to save my life fml, i guess, like what even is relationship development in a one shot, stuck at the top of the ferris wheel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-16 20:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11260635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/after_midnightmunchies/pseuds/after_midnightmunchies
Summary: While third-wheeling on a date, Keith gets singled out on the ferris wheel. Luckily, there's a single rider available to keep him company. Unfortunately, it's Keith's self-proclaimed "rival" from school, whom he ends up stuck with at the top for hours when the ride breaks down... yeah, what could go wrong?





	Single Riders

**Author's Note:**

> Written for @chloraholic on Tumblr as part of the Voltron Positivity Day Exchange!
> 
> (Currently unbeta-ed; I will probably come back to clean it up later.)

“Why is the ferris wheel here only a two seater?” Keith grumbled, trudging behind his brother and his brother’s girlfriend like the third wheel that he was. “And why do we have to ride it?”

“Aww, come on, Keith! Try to have a little fun!” Shiro nudged him with his elbow, shooting him a pitiful pout behind Allura’s back. “Besides, you might just get a whole car to yourself! How sweet would that be?”

“I just came for the shooting games and diabetes-inducing junk food.” The teen crossed his arms stubbornly, but kept pace with his companions. They were his ride, after all – he couldn’t afford to lose them in the crowd.

“We promise that we’ll stop by the games after the ride,” Allura conceded gently, lacing her fingers with Shiro’s as she tugged him playfully into the line.

It took nearly twenty minutes for them to reach the front, during which Keith adamantly ignored the calls for other “single riders.” Just as his patience began to crumble, they reached the front, where he was immediately stopped from boarding after Shiro and Allura entered their car.

“Do you have a partner, sir?” the young woman manning the ride asked monotonously.

“No, ma’am, I’d rather just ride by myself, if that’s alright.” He hoped that flattery would spare him an annoying five-minute ride with a total stranger.

He was wrong.

Rather than address his request, the woman responded by calling into the line, “Are there any single riders?”

A hand sprung up from the crowd before anyone else could answer. Its owner maneuvered his way carefully to the front before pausing beside Keith, leaning against the railing of the line dividers to shoot a smoldering look at the ride operator.

“I’m totally single if you want me to be, babe.”

The woman only rolled her eyes, gesturing for him to board the car. The ride couldn’t move until they got on.

It was then that the young man noticed Keith, eyes lighting up almost challengingly. “Well, if it isn’t Kogane, my arch nemesis.”

Keith furrowed his brows, eyes raking up and down the figure in front of him. “Do I know you?”

The brunet’s face immediately fell. “What? Of course you do! We’re in the same class! Does the name ‘Lance Mcclain,’ ring any bells?”

The ride operator released an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, yeah, you’re life-long rivals. Can you continue this conversation in your car, please? I have a ride to man.”

Keith simply shrugged and slid into his seat, willing it to just be over. He spotted Shiro with his arm around Allura, the two exchanging pleasant conversation just above him and blissfully unaware of his predicament.

Lance argued with the operator for a few seconds before a larger guy, whom Keith vaguely recognized from class, walked up and shoved him into the car.

“You’ll thank me for this later!” he called with a smug grin. He then waved to Keith almost as an afterthought.

The ride slowly began its course of motion again, their car inching its way to the top. Lance was silent on the other side, almost brooding. Keith tried to ignore his sulking, but quickly became annoyed by the heavy aura.

“Are you upset because I didn’t recognize you?”

“No!” Lance shot back almost too quickly. His arms were crossed defensively and his lower lip poked out childishly. “I’m just upset that I couldn’t ride with my friends.”

“Right, well I’m sure they’ll miss your company just as much.”

Lance stuck his tongue out at the sarcastic tone, allowing his arms to rest at his sides as he relaxed. “What about you?”

Keith raised a brow at the unexpected shift in the conversation. “What about me?”

“Who are you here with? Loner or not, you can’t expect me to believe that you’d come to the carnival alone and choose to ride the ferris wheel, of all things.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m with the happy couple sucking each other’s faces off in the car ahead of us.”

It was a gross exaggeration, of course, but Lance turned to look, anyway. “Wait, that’s Shiro and Allura! How do you even know them? They’re school royalty!”

Allura actually was princess to a small kingdom off the coast of Africa, but she’d moved to America over a year ago with her advisor to attend school. Shiro, being top of his class and the school’s official ambassador, had been assigned to show her around and ensure that she was settled in. They had instantly hit it off, and immediately became the school’s “it” couple when they went public with their relationship a few months ago. As for how Keith fit into all of this…

“Shiro’s my half-brother.”

Lance’s eyes widened in awe. “Holy shit, dude, that makes you royalty adjacent!”

Keith shrugged. “I guess. Honestly, I couldn’t care less.”

A scandalized gasp slipped from Lance’s mouth. “Bite your tongue! How could you say such a thing?”

“By opening my mouth and letting the words out?”

Lance shook his head almost fondly. “You are an enigma, Keith Kogane.”

“That’s rich coming from you, Lance McClain. Shiro might have you beat in academics, but you’re at the top of the food chain when it comes to people.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re at every party, you know all of the gossip, you have a seat at every table! There’s no one that you can’t get along with! You even called me your rival a few moments ago, but we’re here having a pleasant conversation.”

They were stalled at the very top now, the ride having stopped to unload a car down below. Nearly eight stories up, they could easily see the farthest reaches of the carnival grounds, people milling about below like colorful little air molecules.

Keith’s observation had launched them into silence again, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as the last time had been. Keith opted to gaze out at the lights below, the wind whipping his hair about his face wildly. He peered over at Lance to see him doing the same.

“Thinking about anything in particular?” the brunet asked after awhile.

“Trying to figure out which stuffed animal to win at the water shooting game,” Keith replied only half-jokingly.

Lance snorted. “Please, there’s no way you’re winning anything from that booth.”

Keith raised a brow, giving Lance a look of concern. “Why’s that? Is it rigged?”

“No,” his companion shrugged, a smirk slowly settling onto his face. “It’s been dominated by me, and there’s no way in hell that you’re going to dethrone me, so you might as well just pick another game!”

“Oh, so it’s like that? Well then bring it on, McClain!”

“You really want to do this, Kogane? I’ve never lost in that game and I don’t intend to start today. They don’t call me ‘The Sharpshooter’ for nothing!”

“I’ve never heard anyone call you that, ever,” Keith deadpanned, crossing his arms assuredly.

“Well meet me at the game booth after this and I’ll show you,” he winked, and Keith almost laughed at how cliché it all sounded.

“This sounds like something straight out of one of my brother’s secret manga… that totally aren’t his, by the way, I definitely didn’t just say that.”

Lance snickered, leaning back into his seat casually. “Please, as if anyone would even believe me if I told them that _the_ Takashi Shirogane secretly owns and reads manga.”

Keith found himself chuckling, too. “It does seem pretty outrageous.”

Conversation began to flow more smoothly for them as they relaxed in each other’s company. The prospect of a competition to come delayed any hostility between them, making room for friendlier conversation to take place.

“So you have six siblings?” Keith asked incredulously. “And you’re in the middle? How do you even manage that?”

“Let’s just say that I have a particular set of skills.”

“Okay, Liam Neeson, remind me to call you if I ever get kidnapped,” Keith teased with a roll of his eyes.

Lance only beamed in response, delighted that his companion had caught the reference. They continued to chat about movies and quotes and franchises, easily losing themselves to the conversation.

It wasn’t until Lance received a text from Hunk that they realized that something was wrong.

**Dude, are you okay up there??? It’s been over an hour! The operator said that the ride got stuck and you’re too far up for them to evacuate you.**

Lance paled, alerting Keith of their predicament by silently passing his phone over to him. Another text lit the screen up as the phone was handed back to him.

**I thought you would’ve texted me by now! Is everything okay? Do Pidge and I need to MacGyver a ladder and get you out of there??**

As Lance typed a hasty “no” to his friends, Keith notified Shiro of the delay. It seemed his brother hadn’t paid it any mind, either, replying that he and Allura had been talking for the entire time and didn’t realize it.

“Right, ‘talking,’” Lance joked as he read the text upside down, using air quotes to exaggerate his skepticism. “I sure as hell wouldn’t have been talking this entire time if I’d been stuck with a girlfriend as gorgeous as Allura.”

Keith didn’t know why that comment stung him so much. Lance was a notorious player at school. He shouldn’t have expected anything to change after one hour of decent conversation with him.

Lance seemed to have picked up on the shift in aura, smile fading. “Keith, is something wrong?”

It took Lance stroking a thumb over his cheek to make him realize that he’d unwillingly shed a tear. He quickly turned away, mumbling a “shit” as he dried his eyes with his sleeve.

“I’m fine,” he finally bit back with a sniffle, straightening his posture.

“You were fine a moment ago,” Lance pointed out, voice soft. “Something happened to upset you. Was it something I said?”

 _‘Yes, you moron,’_ Keith wanted to shout back, but he held his tongue and shook his head.

“Was it something Shiro texted?”

“Just let it go, Lance.”

“I can’t do that, I’m not Queen Elsa. Tell me what’s on your mind, Keith.”

“I’d rather not. Don’t worry about it.” Before Lance could ask again, he quickly added, “Can we just change the subject, please?”

“Uhh, sure,” Lance rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he scrambled for a new topic. “You mentioned that your brother reads manga, but what are you into?”

Keith exhaled at the easy topic, allowing himself to flow back into the rhythm of conversation.

Another hour passed uneventfully, the two exchanging stories that they never imagined they’d ever share with the other. Their banter flowed as if they were life-long friends.

“Hey, we should take a selfie up here,” Lance suddenly suggested, pulling his phone out of his pocket again.

Keith furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“So we can always remember this moment,” Lance scoffed, like it was supposed to be obvious. He already had his camera trained on himself, adjusting the lighting to accommodate for the setting sun. Not listening to Keith’s mumbled protests, he maneuvered himself to sit beside him, squishing into the bench.

“Smile,” the brunet beamed, taking a few photos in quick succession. His face fell, however, when he checked the pictures and found Keith pouting beside him.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like the smolder action you’ve got going on here, but can you at least pretend that you enjoy my company?” Lance teased, nudging Keith’s shoulder and holding his phone up for another shot.

“Sorry, I just… I’m not good at taking pictures. I’ve been told I’m not very photogenic.”

“Pssh, who even told you that?” Lance snorted, seemingly offended on his behalf. “You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen! And your eyelashes are ridiculously thick, like are you sure you don’t use mascara? And your face is so flawless! I use face masks and my pores are still larger than yours! You’re effortlessly beautiful and honestly, I’m pretty jealous.”

Keith couldn’t help but blush at the compliments, hiding his face in Lance’s shoulder as the brunet snapped another burst of photos with an amused chuckle. “Stop!”

“Not until I get a really sweet picture! I’m talking cavity-inducing.”

Keith sighed, knowing that there was no way out of it. He couldn’t deny that Lance’s persistence and kind words strummed his heartstrings in a manner that no one ever had before. He felt the blush ignite his cheeks again.

“Fine, but I’ll need you to make me laugh.”

“Challenge accepted.”

Keith immediately regretted his words when Lance’s right hand snuck inside his jacket and began poking at his stomach, causing him to recoil into a fit of giggles.

“You are ticklish!” he cheered, thumb tapping the shutter excitedly. “Thank goodness! This would’ve been really weird if you weren’t.”

Keith slowly got his breaths back under control as Lance’s hand retreated. “You… jerk…”

Rather than shoot an insult back, the brunet simply stated, “I’ve never heard you laugh so genuinely before.” His eyes were trained on the photos, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“Well you’ve never tickled me before,” Keith snorted, crossing his arms.

“Is that you giving me permission to do it again?”

“Don’t you dare!”

Lance’s hand was already snaking back into his jacket, fingers jabbing into his side playfully. Not willing to go down without a fight, Keith shoved his hands into Lance’s jacket, poking at his ribs and underarms. Their banter quickly derailed into a tickle war, their car shaking as they jerked about the confined space.

“Hey!” a voice called from below them. Keith peered over the edge, flushed and out of breath again, to catch Shiro’s wide eyes staring up at him skeptically. “What are you two doing up there?”

Lance poked his head over the edge to shoot Shiro an innocent look. “Don’t worry, your highness, your little bro is in good hands!”

Keith punched him lightly in the shoulder, and Lance held his hands up, retreating to his side of the car. Keith shot Shiro a sheepish look before sliding back into his seat fully.

“I’ll admit, it probably looked suspicious from their perspective,” Lance chuckled, stretching his legs across the small bench as best as he could. He was scrolling through the pictures again, selecting the best ones to show Keith. “Do you mind if I post a couple of these?”

Keith shrugged. “It’s up to you.”

“I’ll have to tag you, then.” Lance suddenly gasped, wide eyes locking onto Keith’s stunned face. “Wait a minute, are you even on Instagram?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Of course I am.”

“Then how am I not following you?!”

Another shrug as he dug into his pocket for his own phone. “I’m not exactly active…”

Lance snatched the phone from his hands before he could pull the app up. “Just give me a second to fix that…”

Twelve minutes and fifteen new posts later, Keith suddenly had sixty new followers, most of whom were demanding to know about his apparent “relationship” with Lance.

When Keith checked the posts, it was easy to understand the misunderstanding – half of the photos were selfies of Lance, the others the pictures that he’d taken of the two of them laughing, the setting sun casting an intimate glow across their faces.

“I… don’t know how to respond to this,” Keith admitted, showing the messages to the brunet responsible. “Are we even friends?”

Lance furrowed his brows, catching Keith off guard with the serious look. “After all of this? I’d like to think that we’re just a little bit more than that…”

The sudden confession completely blindsided the raven-haired teen, his blush returning full-force. “You say that now, but what about when we’re no longer trapped in a ferris wheel car together? When we’re back on the ground and you’re with your friends and I’m…”

_Alone._

Lance seemed to fill the blank in, too, taking Keith’s hands into his own gently. “Keith, I… don’t want to leave you alone. Wait, shit, that came out wrong, let me try again. I don’t want to abandon you, not that, you know, you’d be completely alone because you have Shiro and Allura, but not in that way, and feel free to stop me anyti–”

Keith silenced his ramblings with a chaste kiss, drawing back as quickly as their lips met with a bright blush. “I really hope I read that right,” he mumbled, avoiding Lance’s stunned gaze.

When Lance shook the initial shock off, he smirked, squeezing Keith’s hands. “You read my mind completely, babe.” He leaned in to meet the other teen halfway this time, the kiss lasting a few seconds longer as the reality of their confessions set in.

“Wow,” Keith murmured dazedly when they parted.

“Yeah, wow,” Lance breathed, a satisfied look overtaking his features.

They didn’t even notice when the ride started moving again until they were jolted to a stop halfway down for the first of the remaining passengers to get off.

“Oh, we’re moving again,” Keith stated with a small frown, leaning over the edge to determine the remaining height. His eyes caught Shiro’s and he immediately retreated again, planning on crossing that bridge when it eventually came.

“Don’t worry, Mullet, I’m not going anywhere. I still have to cream your ass at that water shooting game.”

“Oh please, you’re so going down, McClain! But don’t worry, I’ll let you pick the stuffed animal after my victory.”

Needless to say, Shiro and Allura and Hunk and Pidge were beyond confused when the two raced past them hand-in-hand, shouting playful insults at each other along the way.

“Well, I guess that worked out better than we could’ve hoped!” Allura smirked once she’d recovered from her shock. She leaned onto Shiro’s shoulder, her boyfriend automatically wrapping his arm around her in response.

The others could only nod with fond smiles before following slowly after their idiotic friends. After all, congratulations were in order.


End file.
